Starting a mealworm farm

[BantammChick]

Hi everyone,
I think I'm going to try to make a small mealworm farm, I only plan on starting with 50-100.
My question is about the substrate, what can I use? Do I need to put dirt in the container? Would chicken crumble or all-stock animal feed work?

 

[Perris]

Hi everyone,
I think I'm going to try to make a small mealworm farm, I only plan on starting with 50-100.
My question is about the substrate, what can I use? Do I need to put dirt in the container? Would chicken crumble or all-stock animal feed work?

you may find this website useful
https://mealwormcare.org/
it has good info on what to use as substrate, and what to expect re: lifecycle etc.

 

[Violanna]

you could maybe use chicken feed if you put in it a blender. Monkey biscuits work if you want less mess. But pelleted chicken feed is too tightly compressed. You really want something fine. I take rolled oats I already have on hand and blend them into a powder.

 

[Space Coast Mealworms]

Hi everyone,
I think I'm going to try to make a small mealworm farm, I only plan on starting with 50-100.
My question is about the substrate, what can I use? Do I need to put dirt in the container? Would chicken crumble or all-stock animal feed work?

wheat bran is the most popular substrate for mealworms. it contains enough protein and other goodies that mealies love, plus it's small enough in size to sift using kitchen sieves or gold panning sifters (like these: tinyurl.com/bucketsifter).
Oatmeal is also common. It's more readily available but more expensive than bran (in bulk) and more difficult to sift. You could blend it down into a powder, but that's extra steps.
Non-medicated chicken crumbles, dry dog food, and dried spent brewer's grains are also valid substrates to consider.

 

[Ebal]

Started my first 3 months ago. Wheat Brand, potatoes, Carrots are all that go in mine. My 1000 worms have all turned to beetles for the most part. Hope they are producing eggs now.

 

[BastyPutt]

We just started yesterday! 5000 worms and 2000 beetles.

We used wheat bran.